What it costs

Prices, insurance, and why people fly abroad for a crown.

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The Same Work at Twelve and at Thirty

Implant prices people actually paid run from twelve thousand to thirty per arch, and one family was quoted twenty-five for a relative who did not need them.

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One of Them Costs You Two More Teeth

A bridge grinds down two healthy teeth to replace one. An implant does not touch them, and that difference decides most cases before cost enters it.

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The Interval Should Follow Your Risk

How often you need dental X-rays should follow your risk, not the calendar. And the radiation in one is far smaller than almost anybody guesses.

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The Gap Costs More Than the Tooth Did

A root canal keeps the tooth. Extraction is cheaper only on the day, because the gap costs you bone, the neighbors tilting in, and the tooth above dropping.

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Eight Cavities, Then None

Eight cavities from one dentist and none from another is a real story, told more than once. When a second opinion is worth getting, and when it is not.

Editorial illustration: A cracked 1970s insurance booklet under a magnifying glass, its faded “$1,000 annual maximum” te

Dental Insurance Isn't Insurance. It's a Coupon Book.

The annual maximum was around $1,000 when these plans appeared. It's still around $1,500. A 1970 dollar is worth about eight of today's.